Creston Valley Farmers’ Market manager Jen Comer went to the recent BC Association of Farmers’ Markets conference and AGM earlier this month to network and learn more about her colleagues. And she came home with two major awards.
The local market was named medium-sized Farmers’ Market of the Year and Comer came away from the event as Market Manager of the Year.
Now in her seventh year managing the growing enterprise, Jen arrived in Creston in 2010 with her husband, Joel, who was raised here. The couple made the move from Victoria on the promise of a part-time job for Jen, who was hired after a Skype interview by members of the Food Action Coalition, which was taking over the market from the Creston Rotary Club.
“We had good job prospects after graduating from the University of Victoria,” Comer said on Saturday. “But we needed fresh water and mountains. My pay was to be based on stall fees, which was great for my entrepreneurial spirit. But I really had no idea what we might achieve.”
The Comers moved into a 200-square-foot cabin on Joel’s parents’ property and began to carve out a life for themselves.
“Len’s (Len Parkin, who was then the FAC president) support was incredible,” Comer recalled. “We had some connections here, of course, but I had never lived here. Len introduced me to everyone he knew.
“I was so eager for a project that would take my five years of theoretical knowledge from university and translate it into something practical. It was such a fun project.”
With the optimism of youth on her side, she set about building the Market beyond what it had been.
“I didn’t fully anticipate how long things take,” she laughed. “I thought we’d be in a year-round space by now.”
The market’s change in outdoor locations from Millennium Park to Cook Street, east of the Chamber of Commerce, has been wildly successful.
“It’s amazing to see how the Farmers’ Market resonates with the community, bringing together vendors and buyers, musicians, seniors and kids, Creston Public Library and so many organizations. And so much is changing. Vendors are planting crops earlier and growing more because they have a reliable market.”
In addition to the droves of customers that flock to the market, indoors or outdoors, there are other benefits. The market serves as an incubator for new products and ideas, giving entrepreneurs a chance to test their products on a small scale.
Last year, a coupon program sponsored by the provincial association was introduced. Valley Community Services managed the program, distributing weekly gift certificates for families and individuals with low incomes. Not only did it help with their food bills, but it introduced new customers to the market and encouraged them to incorporate fresh produce into their diets.
“That little gesture (of certificates) served as an invitation and proved the power of community, relationships and connectivity—and that’s what drives the Market.”
Comer readily credits the Food Action Coalition team and other volunteers for the success of the Farmers’ Market since she arrived in 2010. But under her leadership it has grown from a three-month long summer market to include an indoor market in winter months as well. For the past several years it has operated late fall and early winter markets in Morris Flowers Greenhouse, and held some markets at the Community Complex, too.
While she longs for a permanent, dedicated space for colder weather markets, the appeal of the outdoor market cannot be ignored, she said. The Town of Creston has preliminary drawings that express a vision for a Market Park in the present outdoor location, extending to the old Sunset Seed property west of Extra Foods.
“Outdoors is something you just can’t beat—and it captures tourists like you wouldn’t believe,” she said. “Lou’s (Town Manager Lou Varela) vision for a Market Park would be an incredible draw in the Creston Valley.”
With her background in science, Comer is a dedicated collector of data, which serves to indicate the value of the Market within the trading area.
“The Market has grown 37 per cent in four years, sales-wise,” she said. “In my first summer we averaged about 28 vendors and 800 customers a week. Within two years, those numbers had grown by 50 per cent.”
Recently, vendor numbers have remained steady, but customer numbers have doubled. More than 40,000 people attend the Market in a one-year period and it has a $2.13 million annual impact on the Creston Valley economy.
“We can measure the economic benefit of farmers’ markets, and the associated ‘ripple effects’ of people shopping at the market. This ripple effect includes not only the sales at the Farmers’ Market, but also the inputs into making their product (i.e., seeds, feed, ingredients, and other products.) There are also the additional sales at surrounding businesses that happen when customers shop at the Farmers’ Market,” Comer wrote in a report. “The bottom line is the market has continued an upward growth trend over the past several years. We believe this is just the start of what the local Creston Valley agri-food and cottage industry can achieve!”
It’s that kind of hard information—collected by Comer and volunteers at Markets over recent years—that makes it easier for local governments to support a Farmers’ Market.
“There is no doubt that the Creston Valley Farmers’ Market is a huge asset to our community,” Mayor Ron Toyota said on Monday. “What has been accomplished has been remarkable, and it really does look like the sky’s the limit.”
Comer said when her name was called out at the provincial conference in New West Minister, “My heart was just fluttering.”
She made her way to the front of the room, knowing she had to compose herself to speak. Then, after the awarding of the Best Small Farmer’s Market banner, she heard “Creston” in the next announcement, and once again she headed to the podium.
“That was the most exciting piece,” she said. “It says so much about the impact our vendors have, about the impact our customers have on our economy. And now we have that banner to display at our Markets! This is about making Creston a destination—that’s what we are really about.”
A special Farmers’ Market will be held on Sunday, April 9, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Community Complex, an addition to the schedule because the Cyclone Taylor Cup provincial Junior B hockey championship games promise to attract a lot of visitors that weekend. The outdoor market season kicks off on Saturday, April 15, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Market’s home behind the Visitor Centre.